William Saint Clair Tisdall (1859-1928) was a British historian and philologist who served as the Secretary of the Church of England's Missionary Society in Isfahan, Persia. He was fluent in several Middle Eastern languages including Arabic and spent much time researching the sources of Islam and the Qur'an in the original languages.
One of William Saint Clair Tisdall's studies are included in ''Origins of the Qur'an|The Origins of The Qur'an: Classic Essays on Islam’s Holy Book'' edited by [[Ibn Warraq]]. Chapter III include a section on ''Influence of Sabian and Jewish Ideas and Practices''.
While this work is dated and strongly reflects 19th century prejudices, much of the information is still valid, and deserves to be updated with more recent research. It proves a deep and faithful understanding with some of the more obscure elements of the Jewish tradition, and reinforces the notion that the early Jewish-Islamic relationship was based in some part of a Noahide relationship, where the followers of the new faith studied not all, but a limited set of the Jewish tradition.
